I'm actually about to play around (at home) with a Hyper-V cluster using Storage Spaces Direct (S2D). I've built two nodes with Xeon E-2146Gs, 32GB ECC RAM, 2x 800GB enterprise SSDs for OS/boot, then 2x 960GB NVMe disks with 8x600GB 15k SAS disks on a 9311-8i. The 9311 is a 12gbps SAS HBA as I was originally going to use some 12gb SAS SSDs before changing design to NVMe. Two 40gbps Ethernet connections (via QSFP+ DAC) between the nodes handling the S2D replication traffic.
Still in progress, but I'm interested in how it'll turn out. -----Original Message----- From: Hardware [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Christopher Fisk Sent: Friday, November 15, 2019 4:38 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [H] PCIe controller This is why I got a motherboard with 8 onboard SATA ports & 1 NVMe port. I run everything in storage spaces, hardware agnostic. On Fri, Nov 15, 2019 at 2:18 PM Greg Sevart <[email protected]> wrote: > Well, most of the time these cards are connected to SAS backplanes > with a > SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 cable. The consumer user case of directly > connecting to disks (SATA at that) is less common. Not uncommon, but > less. :) > > Agreed on the potential for having a lot of extra cables, but for me, > it's worth it to bypass the crap cheap consumer SATA HBAs that never > work completely right. I don't run a lot of JBOD anymore, but the > systems that do are using 9211s or its successors--usually alongside > SAS expanders. > > One final point - this card can run in RAID mode or IT > (Initiator/Target) mode. If it comes in RAID mode, you may need to > switch it to IT mode. There are a number of guides out there, but this one > looks quite decent: > https://nguvu.org/freenas/Convert-LSI-HBA-card-to-IT-mode/ > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Hardware [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Winterlight > Sent: Friday, November 15, 2019 12:55 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [H] PCIe controller > > > yeah, I figured that out after I ordered it. I am surprised they don't > include that with the product. What I don't like is you end up with a > lot of unused cables in your case.. I will have to think about it. > > > At 11:44 AM 11/15/2019, you wrote: > >The card itself does not have any "SATA" ports. It uses a multi-lane > >mini-SAS connector - SFF-8087. You will need one or more SFF-8087 to > >SATA breakout cables (4 ports each) to attach disks, which is the 2nd > link. > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: Hardware [mailto:[email protected]] On > >Behalf Of Winterlight > >Sent: Friday, November 15, 2019 12:18 PM > >To: [email protected] > >Subject: Re: [H] PCIe controller > > > > > >I ordered the controller but I just realized that the other link is a > >breakout cable? and not a SATA to Esata.. is this required or just > >to increase from 4 to 8 ports? > > > >At 06:31 AM 11/15/2019, you wrote: > > >LSI (then Avago, and now Broadcom) makes good stuff, but it's > > >generally server grade. > > > > > >If you're just connecting SATA disks, I would actually suggest an > > >LSI/Avago/Broadcom SAS card. Something like the 9211-8i in > > >Initiator/Target > > >(IT) mode would let you directly attach 8 more disks, either SATA > > >or SAS. No eSATA though, so if that's a requirement, you'd need to > > >use your onboard ports for that. You would need SFF-8087 to SATA > > >forward breakout cables as well, but those are cheap. > > > > > >https://amzn.com/B002RL8I7M > > >https://amzn.com/B012BPLYJC > > > > > >Do beware that, depending on your system, it could add time to your > > >POST, and add-in I/O controllers across the board are notorious for > > >having power-saving issues--specifically, waking from sleep/hibernate. > > > > > >-----Original Message----- > > >From: Hardware [mailto:[email protected]] On > > >Behalf Of Winterlight > > >Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2019 9:53 PM > > >To: Hardware Group <[email protected]> > > >Subject: [H] PCIe controller > > > > > >I am looking to buy a quality PCIe sata controller. I am not going > > >to setup RAID so just 6 Gbps is fine. What I am looking for is > > >solid reliability and Windows 10 compatibility. at lest 4 ports. I > > >have tried the cheap ones like SYBA and others and they never work > > >that well or very reliably. The one I have now hangs at post if > > >anything is plugged into the Esata port. Istarted looking for a > > >PROMISE but can't find anything that isn't designed for a server. > > >I see a brand called LSI but I am not familiar with it ? Any sugestions? > > > >
